Riders ready for Costa Rican show down

Some 400 riders from around the world will start the 16th edition of the La
Ruta de los Conquistadores in less than 12 hours. This four day mountain bike
race is billed as one of the toughest in the world, and this year former road
professional Roberto Heras of Spain is looking to become the first road racer
to win the event.

Heras, a former Vuelta a España winner, has been recognised as one of the greatest
climbers in the world. Despite his previous results, Heras is coming off a two
year suspension for doping, and no one - including Heras himself - knows how
he will do in the heat, the humidity and the mud for which La Ruta is famous.

"He contacted us two months ago," explained PR Director Luis Rueda. "We were
more than pleased to have him here racing our race."

The adventure of a race like La Ruta is what has attracted Heras to the event.
"I like to travel, I like the adventure," said Heras. "I'm interested in knowing
Costa Rica, so four days racing across Costa Rica sounded like a great adventure.
I raced the Titan Race earlier in the fall, in Morocco [which he won], but that
is all the experience I have with multi-stage mountain bike racing.

"It will be pretty different to race here, in the La Ruta conditions - the
mud, the gravel, the rocks ... so that will definitely be the big obstacles
for me," he added. "It is a good way to test myself, but here I face mountain
bikers not road racers, which is a big difference. So it is not only about how
you are feeling, but how are you as a rider for these conditions."

"To win would be a great, great result," he admitted. "But this is not a race
made for me, so I will be happy to be among the top riders, among the best."

Heras will face strong competition from French marathon racer Thomas Dietsch
and Costa Rican favourites like 2004 winner Paolo Montoya and four time winner
Federico (Lico) Ramirez, who is also the defending champion.

"I want to do my best and improve over third last year," said Dietsch. "But
for the Costa Rican riders, this is their world championships, so it is hard
to beat them."

Late scratches from the start list are 2006 champion Hector Leon Paez (Colombia)
and Canada's Svein Tuft. Paez has opted for a race in Colombia, and Tuft - the
silver medalist in the time trial at the UCI World Road Championships two months
ago - was a last minute withdrawal, after his ProTour team Garmin-Chipotle got
nervous about having one of their potential stars get injured.

"It is an honour to have Roberto Heras as a competitor," commented Lico Ramirez.
"I think this race will be very close over the next few days."

On the women's side, the field is rather sparse. Three-time champion Louise
Kobin (USA) pulled out due to injury, while defending champion Sue Haywood (USA)
has retired. One of Canada's World Cup racers - Sandra Walter - is a late entry
to the race and, while this is her first attempt at multi-day mountain bike
racing, she has to be considered a serious contender for the podium.

"It is different, so I don't know what to expect," said Walter. "I've read
up a lot on the race, and I think the plan is just going to be to pace myself."

This year riders face a race that is in some ways easier than the previous
ones, yet in other ways even more challenging. At 384 kilometres it is the longest
La Ruta ever, with nearly 14,000 metres (45,800 feet) of climbing. However some
of the extremely tough mud sections and gravel climbs of previous years have
been replaced by pavement. Besides the geographic obstacles, the riders also
face the notorious La Ruta mud, at times the consistency of peanut butter, and
at others a thick soup that goes above the knees. This year it will be particularly
bad, since Rueda says that Costa Rica is suffering from one of the wettest fall
seasons on record. It has been raining heavily in the hours leading up to the
start.

Stage 1 has added 10 kilometres in length, but the opening muddy 10 kilometre
climb has been replaced with an 18 kilometre road climb - which should suit
Heras. From here the riders make their usual entry into the Carara National
Park for what is one of the most beautiful and exhausting parts of the race,
with mud forcing riders to endure long 'hike a bike' sections. Out of the Park
and it is back to gravel and then pavement for the extended climb to the finish
line. The riders face a total of 5220 metres of elevation gain.

Stage 2 is 'only' 75 kilometres, but has almost as much climbing as Stage 1
at 4024 metres. From 800 metres of elevation riders climb to over 2000 metres
in a series of steps, some of which are savagely steep. After the riders reach
the highest point they descend on gravel and pavement to finish at the Terramall
Plaza on the eastern side of San Jose. The previous mud bog (which was up to
the waist on some riders) has been replaced with a technical descent through
a coffee plantation.

Stage 3 takes La Ruta to its highest point, at over 3000 metres on the slopes
of the Irazu volcano. After climbing steadily (mostly on pavement) for the first
half of the 67 kilometre stage the riders reach 3010 metres; often chilled and
wet from the fog and rain which shrouds the volcano. Volunteers hand out hot
drinks, and riders fumble into jackets for the long descent to the finish in
the coffee plantations surrounding the town of Aquiares. In 33 kilometres the
riders drop nearly 1800 metres.

Stage 4, while the longest at 125 kilometres, has the least amount of climbing.
There is less than 10 kilometres of climbing at the start, before 55 kilometres
of descending. However, the riders face one final obstacle - 25 kilometres of
train tracks and trestle bridges over fast flowing rivers.

No leader can rest easy in the final stages - in 2005, Thomas Frischknecht
(Switzerland) lost his lead in stage three after multiple flats, only to regain
it in the final stage after a series of attacks on his rivals.

Notes

- Organisers announced a significant change in the race for next year, going
from four days to five, dropping most of the paved sections, limiting entries
to 300 (plus invited professionals) and offering five-star accommodation. All
of these are expected to make La Ruta even harder.

- The organizers also announced that they will be cracking down on outside
assistance. Local riders in past years have held a significant advantage over
foreigners, because friends and families have provided food, drinks and technical
assistance along the course (often from vehicles following the riders), while
foreigners have had to rely on the aid stations. Organisers have imposed strict
penalties on riders receiving assistance outside of technical zones (30 minute
time penalty for the first offence); but we will have to see how successful
they are at enforcing these rules.

- The doping controls have also been expanded. Both blood and urine samples
will be taken after every stage for general classification leaders in each category
and stage winners (in each category), plus random selections.